Prague, Aug 18 (CTK) – The spending on Czech health care reached the record high sum of 300 billion crowns in 2015, compared with 289 billion crowns in 2010, the Institute of Health Information and Statistics (UZIS) has written on its website.
The health care spending represented 7.04 percent of the Czech gross domestic product last year. In 2010, the healthcare spending represented 7.3 percent of GDP.
From 2010 to 2014, the expenses of the health insurance companies increased from 222.5 to 239 billion crowns. In 2014, 6.5 billion went to health care from the state budget and 9.2 billion from the budgets of regions, towns and municipalities.
The total public spending on health care was 255 billion crowns last year, which is 12 billion more than in 2010, while the total private spending was 45.2 billion crowns, which was slightly lower than four years before.
All the figures for last year are preliminary.
Private healthcare spending increased until 2012 when it was 46.4 billion. In 2013, it fell to 44.4 billion and it slightly rose again to 45.2 billion in 2014.
The private spending represented 15.8 percent of all healthcare spending in 2010 and 15.1 percent in 2015.
The changes in the sums paid by patients in cash were influenced by the introduction of healthcare fees and their subsequent cancelling and by the offer of extra treatment that may be requested and paid by patients.
Czech patients started paying relatively small fees for their visits to doctors, for prescriptions, hospital stays and treatment at night or during weekends in 2008. In 2012, patients could ask for special treatment and material provided that they cover part of the costs. Most of the fees were cancelled by the left-wing government in 2014 and 2015. Extras ended in 2013.
Spending on Czech health care in 2010-2014 according to UZIS (in billions of crowns):
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
public spending 243.281 242.410 246.918 246.562 254.699
– ministries, regions, towns 20.781 16.863 15.648 16.657 15.671
– health insurance companies 222.500 225.547 231.270 229.905 239.028
private spending 45.754 45.358 46.388 44.381 45.224
total spending 289.035 287.768 293.306 290.943 299.923
% of GDP 7.3 7.2 7.3 7.1 7.0
($1=24.339 crowns)
kva/dr/rtj
